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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Apparently our friends on the crazy-end of the political aisle have begun a new Tumblr dedicated to a concept called, We Are The 53%. Basically, it's an amalgamation of photos of statements made by random blaming poor people for being poor, for being lazy, for being in debt, and that everyone just needs to stop making bad choices.

Because yeah... the 99% TOTALLY caused the economic recession by providing unsound financial advice, giving out bad loans, defrauding employee pensions, lobbying for corporate loopholes, corrupting our political system, deregulating industries so they could engage in unrestrained greed, shipping jobs overseas while getting tax-breaks AND tax-incentives for being a supposedly "American company", and have generally avoided paying their fair share.

And as proverbial icing in this idiotic cake, these victim-blaming SOBs say that the 99% doesn't represent them... I'm sorry, but if you're the 53%, then you're covered by that 99%. In other words, 99% is more than 53%, so you're actually a part of that statistic, whether you like it or not. Seriously, are there any neoliberal neocon's who can understand basic math anymore? (This is what you get with No Child Left Behind.)

Among the many errors and logical fallacies, the photos on the offending Tumblr depict people who were on welfare saying people should stop asking for handouts. *Ironic, no?) Others say they couldn't afford to go to college, but they worked two jobs to take care of their kids and are happy making minimum wage. (Really? You like being poor for no reason at all?) And then another says his parents make 100k a year, combined income, but he'll pay for everything himself because he's not lazy. (Except for the fact that his parents paid for him for 18 years so he could even have the option of going to college -- so much for not being lazy!)

Luckily there's a great blog mocking the above idiocy with a carefully measured dose of ridicule, scorn, and captions. It's called, Actually You're The 47% and it makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside. Please go check it out.

2
footnotes:

I am pretty sure the 53% are saying that the type of people you find in the occupy wallstreet movement don't represent them.

I don't support the 53% movement as its just a cheesy way of saying the tea party movement (its the same people).

Even though the people in the 53% movement are wrong for blaming the poor instead of the rich, its not wrong of them to want a separate identity from the kind of people in the other movement.

That is actually the whole point of their movement. They don't like liberals so they are making their own movement that they feel represents their beliefs more accurately.

Just because liberals hijacked the saying "we are the 99%" doesn't mean they actually represent everyone.

Even though my politics would lead me to support the 99% over the 53%, I still don't feel the types of liberals found in the movement represent me and refuse to say they do represent me just because they claim to be the face. They are just another political movement and represent only the liberals like the tea party represent conservatives.

You do not have the right to say someone who shares absolutely no political beliefs with you represents you in any shape or form. If you really think that, then the tea party and republicans must represent you since you have a problem with the current government.

Whether or not the 53% are right, they are entitled to having their own identity and representing themselves and not letting people they don't agree with speak on their behalf.

I guess we'll disagree then, because I feel the 99% movement DOES represent the 53% peoples since it is protesting to their benefit -- whereas the Tea Party protests for changes to their detriment.

What the OWS movement wants to accomplish is in the best interests of the people I mentioned who are currently bashing it. Shoot, many of them have benefited directly from the things they criticize!

That said, if they want to differentiate themselves, they are more than welcome to try. Personally I feel they will fail, but then again that has little to do with the concept of differentiating ones self.

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